Li Xuanxiao met the eyes of the youth practicing swordsmanship through the window.
The youth smiled at him.
Li Xuanxiao was momentarily dazed.
"..."
As dusk descended, the cicadas' cries suddenly swelled like a rising tide.
"When I was young and first took up a sword, I believed I could settle every injustice beneath heaven."
Sweat ran down the youth's spine and slipped into his waistband as he looked at the kind old man before him, who kept talking without pause.
The youth's clear voice rang out. "Grandpa, can you teach me swordsmanship?"
"What do you want to learn swordsmanship for?"
The youth raised his wooden sword. "Slay Demons and Exterminate Devils!"
"Keep your voice down. Do you not want to live, saying things like that now?" Li Xuanxiao said.
The youth puffed out his chest and declared with great boldness:
"One day, I'll personally slaughter every demon and devil in the world!!"
Li Xuanxiao hesitated for a moment, then flicked his wrist. Three inches of silver radiance burst from the wooden sword's edge.
The youth's mouth fell open.
"..."
The next day, morning light cleaved through the fish belly white clouds.
The merchant caravan departed from the town.
The youth swung his sword in the morning light, executing the sword forms Li Xuanxiao had taught him with considerable flair.
Li Xuanxiao watched the youth's rising and falling figure as he wielded his sword. That slender body now expanded and contracted with the sword's momentum, like a newly forged blade stretching its veins and channels within the quenching fire.
After completing a full set of sword forms,
the youth respectfully bowed in Li Xuanxiao's direction.
Li Xuanxiao smiled faintly, hesitated, then flicked his wrist.
A Nameless Sword Manual slipped from his sleeve.
Decades ago, the old man had likewise tossed